A few extra notes: -Since publishing this video, HCMTs have now started running a handful of runs on the Sunbury line. I expect this will increase as more are delivered, up towards their full takeover of that line when the Metro Tunnel opens. -A few people are pointing out other details that I "forgot" to include - it was never the aim of this video to list every single difference between the train types, only to provide some key examples. You are of course welcome to discuss other differences here in the comments! Some extra reading/watching on this topic: Two great articles about the ridiculous politicisation of the Frankston line X'trap in 2014: By Daniel Bowen: danielbowen.com/2014/10/22/frankston-line-xtrapolis/ And by Marcus Wong: wongm.com/2016/01/filthy-trains-and-frankston-line-pork-barrelling/ And Reece Martin on why older trains aren't necessarily a bad thing: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mp2Rl8R3v6q0pas.htmlsi=_wLlEW-GGiY6lWGj And a random plug for my Patreon, because why not: www.patreon.com/Taitset

Im a simple guy, I see a Taitset video, I click. Always entertaining always so informative, love your work :)

I'll always remember when you called the Xtrapolis the Xtrampoline in a different video

as much as I love the Comeng, every so often they have an incessant high-pitched ringing, and once you notice it, the noise somehow becomes more deafening. otherwise they're legendary. great video as always.

As a Belgrave…Ian. I’m sick of X-Trampolines, but it does mean if I go to say Southern cross, it’s sick looking at all the new trains, and the older ones.

For anyone that's interested in the technical reason why airbags are better than fixed springs for suspension (at least on trains), it's all to do with the difference in weight between empty and full. When designing for maximum comfort, the engineer will have to choose a spring that's not too stiff (as this will cause more vibrations to be transmitted through to the body), but not too soft either (this will cause too much wobble). The choice is largely a mathematical one, but the main influence on that mathematical choice is the mass of the train body. That mass will vary greatly depending on if the train is empty or if it has a crush load in it for example, and everything in between. With fixed springs (like in the X'Trapolis 100's) you effectively have to choose a compromise of spring stiffness that does an ok job for most circumstances, but never that good at any one time (since it's not optimised for it). With airbags though, you can control the amount of air in them and therefore how "stiff" they are. Computers or other electronics can do this calculation as the weight of the train changes, thereby optimising it for the exact weight at the time. It's also worth noting for the XTrap in particular that it was an "off the shelf" model from Europe, and they tend to have much better track quality than here in Melbourne. So that's certainly an influence on why they are so bouncy, but not the main reason.

I just love the HCMTs. The displays that show the entire stopping schedule, the seats that don't face each other in akward sets of four where there's not enough legroom when the seats are full like all the other train types, and I just love the way they look! So sleek and pretty. Watching them come into the station is so exciting!

As a daily train user for the last 5 years I gotta say this channel is the greatest find of 2023. Holding out for some Vline content though!

I'm glad the Northern group are my local lines. Much prefer seeing a Comeng or a Siemens appear rather than an x'trampoline

UK rail enthusiast here, visiting AUS (Sydney & Melbourne) for the first time in April '24. Your video's are a godsend for anyone researching the subject and will certainly help me enormously when taking 'days out' for rail photography. Great production/post production and superb V/O's. Thanks you so much for all your hard work!🚇😁

I’ve always lived on the Belgrave/Lilydale line and thought the x’traps were awesome every time I walked out of one at Southern Cross. Looking at all those northern line comengs and laughing at the poor old thing. Now I live on the craigie line and i much prefer the trains here. they’re so spacious and smooth.

I love the little quip about how the south side includes the Northern Group. And the proliferation of X'traps to the point where one is upside down is also hilarious. Its little things like that that make this channel truly great.

It is nice to know about the types of trains and usability on each line. There are a couple of other things. -The X'trapolis 100 trains were tested on the Sandringham, Sunbury line in the past --Some go to Westall depot today. -The Siemens trains were tested on the Glen Waverley and Belgrave lines. -The HCMT has a somewhat higher armrest at the window. -The Siemens trains were fitted with FANCIER passenger information display systems (a screen with helvetica on it) -The Siemens are rumoured to be withdrawn from Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines when the HCMT takes over. So they will either go to the Werribee, Williamstown and Sandringham line afterwards. The new X'trapolis 2.0 trains you left out are going to either run on the Cragieburn and Upfield lines. Their mockup has passenger information screens, standing room, exterior sliding doors and their seats look like they were taken from a Vline train. Very few Comeng trains have been tested in Alamein and Mernda in recent years. As an access-ability factor, both trains should be retrofitted with poppy-outie gap fillers at the doors, similar to the new trains on Aucklands train system. As somebody who is used to the rough ride of the X'trapolis 100 trains, what would a refurbishment program look like for them? Will they have open gangways, airbag suspension and information screens? There are a couple of things that could happen in future but lets wait and see.

I love the Comengs the most, their tri-tone horn being one of the reasons why

I've never gone on a Siemen's before, and last time I went on a Comeng was well before I realised how cool they are!

Naturally the HCMTs are my favourite, the information displays have everything neatly display at varying points in the train. Including the train line and even what side the doors will open (since some passengers still don't have platforms memorised). As someone who lives on the Sunbury line I'm eagerly awaiting the metro tunnel to make my entire line only have HCMTs

As a newly sprung train enthusiast, this channel is a great find! Sad to know we'll eventually stop seeing the High Capacity train in the city loop tho

You’ve made me rediscover my childhood love for trains, love the content!! Although I live regionally, I go into the city for uni nearly daily and I love pointing out every train I see to my friends who I think at this point are finding it annoying how much I’m learning about trains 😂

I'm on the Frankston line and love the Comengs, especially the deep loud compressor that comes on intermittently - it's such a familiar comforting sound along with their high pitched rattly horns

I always wonderd why when I change from the Sanduringham line to the Lilydale line it feels like I am enturing a different Australian state because of how different each type is. Well now I know and I got to say my favorite train type is the Comeng specificly the Alstom refurbished Comeng as they have more modern information displays and for some reason the seat fabric feel a bit thicker and more comfortable then the EDI referbished Comenges. Side note: My least favourite train type is probably the X'Trapolis because the seats can be a bit small even for most people and the information displays suck because you can’t even see them and it also feels like they have too many windows. Now yes natural light is good but Its anoying being on a train that when you sit anywhere the sun will always be frying your eyes espetially in the mid morning and late afternoon. Also the suspention is very bad and very noisy when traveling at speed espetially in places like Burnley or Richmond junctions. Overall I love watching your videos and this one is no exception.

Just letting viewers know: Metro have recently changed the rosters of their rolling stock on the network. The following changes have been listed below: - The Craigieburn, Upfield and Sunbury lines now run with only Comeng's, with the expection of 2 morning peak Sunbury services run by HCMT's - The Sandringham line will now run only Siemens trains Hope this helps.

I live on the Upfield line so I usually get Comeng trains, and I actually don’t mind them. I agree with your comments about comfort, although I wish it was an open train to walk through. The worst part is the manual doors though, it’s always uncomfortable opening them and they’re not very accessible. When the X’Trapolis 2.0 join the network, I’d like to see those join the network on lines with only older trains, but keep the Comeng in service. Having the extra trains on hand could help get all suburban lines to all day 10 minute frequency, or mean we have enough electric trains for when the Wyndham Vale and Melton lines are electrified

I love the Comeng fleet. Brings back so many memories from 2004 when I lived in Coburg (taking the Upfield line)

when i first moved to melbourne, i lived on an xtrap line and would resent catching comeng trains cus they felt ugly and old in comparison. but as time went on i realised xtraps are always a pain when it rains, comeng are just so reliable in terms of passenger experience… i’ll miss them when they eventually go

A major issue with the Comengs is that their air-conditioning is insufficient on days of extreme heat. When Melbourne's weather reaches the high 30s (celsius), it wreaks havoc on the timetables of Comeng-run lines.

awesome video! its helpful as I was just in melbourne this weekend for paul mccartney's show and I was near southern cross station and saw all the different types of trains which confused me as in Perth we have 2 types A and B series (only difference is A is older thus runs on the heritage lines)

Never thought the Stony Point line would get a cameo on this channel but I was forever hopeful

As someone whos never been to Australia, i desperately want to go to Melbourne to trainspot the comeng and HCMT, they're some of my favorite looking trains ever.

We do something similar here in Perth, but we only have two types of trains- A Series and B Series. You will only ever find the A Series on the Armadale/ Thornlie, Fremantle and Midland lines, with trains on the Fremantle line through running onto the Midland line. These lines are called the legacy lines as they were all built in the 1800's, but were electrified in 1991, which is also when the first A Series trains entered service. The B Series trains (which first entered service in 2004) are the only trains that you will find on the Joondalup line (opened in 1992, the first new line in over 100 years) and the Mandurah line (opened in 2007) with both lines having through running with each other. The reason for this is because the A Series are 2 car EMU sets and the B Series are 3 car EMU sets. During peak periods 2 A Series sets are joined together to form a 4 car set and 2 B Series sets are joined together to form a 6 car set. You do occasionally see a 3 car B Series train on the legacy lines, but almost never a 6 car because most of the stations have platforms that are only long enough to accommodate 4 car trains (they do occasionally run 6 car B Series express trains for special events but only to Showgrounds Station on the Fremantle line or to Stadium Station on the Armadale/ Thornlie line) and because we also only have 48 A Series sets. We also have an Airport line which was opened just last year which is serviced exclusively by 3 car B series trains. The Airport line is a spur that breaks off of the Midland line at Bayswater (which is about the halfway point of the line) and runs through tunnels to the airport and beyond to the terminus at High Wycombe. Airport line trains also run down the Fremantle line to Claremont (which is also bout the halfway point) where they turn around and come back. All 3 stations on the Airport spur have platforms that can fit 6 car trains. The A Series don't run on the Airport line because they have not been certified for the tunnels. Many years ago, A series trains were also used on the Joondalup and Mandurah lines (usually as a 4 car train, but there were a few rare times that 3 A Series sets were joined together to make a 6 car train) but that was before all 78 B Series sets entered service. The main reason the A Series trains don't run on the Joondalup and Mandurah lines now is that the speed limit on sections of these lines is 130 km/h and the A Series max out at 110 km/h. Soon our first 6 car C Series set will enter service on the Joondalup and Mandurah lines (we have ordered a total of 41 sets), and as more C Series sets enter service, more B Series sets will be pushed onto the legacy lines and eventually all the A Series sets will be retired.

i've always been one of those people that hated that my train line doesn't have "the fancy trains" but this video changed my perspective entirely. comeng ftw! 🤘🏻

my aunt (who was a driver until recently) is a pretty big comeng fan which i find pretty interesting and yeah comengs sound awesome i will never get sick of that

I appreciate that you talked about how the X-trapolis is not the best compared to some older models. I grew up with them and they suck when it's full. Getting stuck in the standing area near the doors is bad because there aren't enough things to hold on to. The handles at the ceiling are hard to reach unless you're a tall man. I way prefer the older ones. New high capacity ones are nice too though

As a Craigieburn line commuter I personally think we’ve got the best selection between Comeng and Siemens trains :). Great video, it’s just amazing that this type of content even exists - especially for Melbournians haha.

I love Comeng especially when the air conditioning is pumping during the summer, not to mention some of them have tinted windows.

I’ll definitely miss the day when the last Comeng set is run through Melbourne, that will be a sad day. It’s been a model which I weirdly feel emotionally attached too, as it’s always been apart of the landscape growing up. Nonetheless, another great video 👍👍👍

You are brilliant. As someone who catches PT everyday, I appreciate your video. Thank you mate!

Out of all the fleet, my favorite train is the Siemens Nexas, even though I've riden it only once. They are very quiet and smooth, and they make very little rattling noise. And they have very clear voice announcements.

The handrail blocking the displays on the X'trap trains drives me insane. The X'traps always felt like a collection of oversights... Comeng is the daddy.

Those Comeng seats & ride quality are soo much more comfortable as you stated. Those Seimens seats are really bad, I will miss the Comeng trains when they eventually go.

This makes me feel a little better knowing I'm on a line with the oldest yet best thought out trains

Thanks for making this video! I'm on the Mernda line, can't remember the last time I caught anything other than an X'trap!

Just got off a comeng. Agree its more comfortable than semens or xtrap. Never been on htmc so can't make a comparison.

thank you for making the best and most informative videos on my favourite topic. i absolutely adore your work and you're such an inspiration to me!

"Listen to the sound that Comeng made" definitely outs you as a serious train nerd 😂😂 Let's hope they get a few more decades out of them.

In other cities this can be done for other reasons In New York a number of trains have been swapped between lines to allow for a new moving block signal system to be installed. The R46s running in Jamaica yard were swapped with R160s based at Coney Island yard. (In New York City, lines and services are discontinuous and every mode is generally tested on the entire system before entering service, usually only one line at a time, and trains typically are assigned to a specific yard which serves multiple lines) In Chicago, when the 5000 series cars were delivered, which was shortly after the brown line was given a capacity expansion project to allow 8-car trains to run on it (previously only 6-car trains could be used), 3200 series cars on the orange and yellow lines were initially seemingly all moved to the brown line. The Yellow line got the older 2600 series cars interim before getting 5000s. The red line at the time mostly ran 2600 series trains which were moved to the orange and blue lines. The blue line had 2200 series cars that were replaced by 2600s from other lines. When the pink line was split from the blue line in 2006, it got 2200 and 2600 series cars that ran on it when it was part of the blue line. It then got 5000s. The Green Line only ran 2400 series cars which were directly replaced by 5000s. Initially some of the 2400 series cars were moved to the orange line, which ended up being the last line they ever ran on as a scheduled service. The 3200 series cars previously on the orange line I’m guessing were moved to the brown line to allow for 8-car trains. I’m not sure where they came from elsewhere as there were 714 5000 series cars but only around 350 2200 and 2400 series cars, all of which were replaced by 5000s as well as a small number of 2600s that were in really bad condition. Later on, to help capacity some 3200s on the brown line were moved to the blue line, while in exchange an equal amount of 2600s were moved to the brown line.

Love the old trains on the craigieburn line, makes me nostalgic for my 90s childhood growing up in Broadmeadows and seeing the same trains.

It's a good day when I see a Taitset video pop up on KZfaq! Love to see it :)

7:22: Happily Agree. Would be great for Comeng to return on the Hillside group

I love this channel, it gives me a blast from the past of catching the trains from Box Hill to Croydon stations back in 2007

Great video as always Martin - As someone from the Clifton HIll and Burnley group lines, I hate tje X/trapolis. They just have no character and when you get used to them that's the end of the enjoyment. I'd much rather live on the lines that have Comengs and HCMTs

Love the Comengs, workhorses of Melbourne for 40 years now

Legend, Realy well put together Video, I've always digged the comengs, they got more soul than an x trap, if only they kept the Hitachi Fleet in service and that Tangara 2000 one, hopefuly Comengs stick around for a decade longer, I also like the look of the V line Bombardiers Thankyou for Broadcasting such Cool info Salute*

Excellent work! You have answered a question I’ve wondered about for years…

you are my favourite youtuber you always hook me in and interest me. I live in Melbourne and because of all these videos you make I can now understand a lot about our train network. I really enjoyed you Broadmeadows runaway train video please continue making these amazing videos. I hope you have a great day

went on a comeng for the first time to go to the show, best train ride ever. after that ride ive felt so uncomfortable on xtraps. plus i love the manual opening doors.

Dandenong lines are my current local but I’ll be switching to the Frankston line as it’s a similar distance for me and will get me to my transfer station easier once metro tunnel opens. Going to miss the HCMTs but it will be good to experience more comengs and Siemens!

Worth also mentioning that the HCMTs are designed to cram as many people into the carriages as possible. Sitting on them for anything over 30-45mins can get seriously uncomfortable due to the totally vertical back support with minimal padding, non-existent leg room, and seats that are about 3/4 the width of a normal human being so you're practically sitting on top of the person next to you. It's reminiscent of the absolute worst types of airline seating. Numerous times I've developed cramps from just sitting down. While having the "modern" train is nice in some ways, would happily take the Comeng any day if it means saving my back and legs from pain.

Did a little rail journey this past Saturday and coincidentally ended up on every type of train in the metro fleet (not you stony point sprinter) though the majority of the time I was on a Siemens/HCMT and the two comengs I was on were at standing room only (thanks metro for funnelling cranbourne/pakenham lines onto frankston services from Caulfield to the City). The X'Trapolis I was only on for 2 stops. I must say I have a HCMT bias due to it being my local line and the passenger information displays being extremely useful. But the siemens I was on was still quite an enjoyable ride.

I can still remember Comeng's right up until like 2018 on the Burnley Group being a rare occasional treat. It's now strange since I'm now on the Bayside groupings and have had so many Comeng's I've forgotten my XTrap roots.

having the Caulfield group as my local lines is great because I see every type of train :] My personal order of trains goes Comeng>HCMT>Siemens>X'trapolis

as a Werribee/Altona loop line user, couldn't believe my eyes the daywear got X'tapolis trains. Though I'll agree with you the Comeng fleet is underrated.

7:19 as someone who also lives on a line dominated by entirely one type of train (pakenham line) i whole-heartedly agree. hell, i'd want to travel on any type of spark that isn't a HCMT. though (as you can probably guess by my name) i'd prefer comengs the most. good video martin!

Something you probably also mention are the doors on each train, unless you did and I'm just completely blind. one of my gripes with the HCMTs is that the button to open the door provides zero tactile feedback that you have in fact pushed it

I’m on the Cran/Pak line and I do see the occasional Comeng roll into my station. While I’m fine with any train, having the HCMT’s is just so nice. They are a lovely train. Even nicer when you the the one with the indigenous artwork on it!

The Taitset vidoes are come out quick and fast! (but still amazing quality as always)

i love the old comegs have been riding them for years. Though I do get upset seeing only some of the "newer" trains only run on lines that always have the richer people on them. I had my first trip on an HCMT and everyone on board was either teens from some uppy private school or some dude in a fancy suit talking about stocks for the entire time. Though I do have my problems with the newer trains as well, seating on the HCMT feels so cramped compared to the comegs and just so much empty space I know its for standing but it feels so cold in that train. Still would want them on my line tho cool train.

I feel like people who don't pay attention to train news will have rheir mind blown when the new Xtrapolis 2.0 appears on their Craigieburn or upfield line. Same for Sunbury line users who dont reslise we'll soon have rhe HCMTs

When the X'Traps go over the crossing between Heyington and Burnely the ride becomes *super* bouncy! Haha, tonnes of fun!

I’m in the west and get the Frankston and Werribee lines city bound and outbound respectively. I always wondered why there were different trains each day, even at the same time so this was really interesting!

With the new rostering, the Siemens from the Northern Group moved to Sandringham and the Comengs moved from Sandringham Line to the Northern Group. This video didn't even last 8 months before being outdated, although I wouldn't recommend an update until the first batch of Xtrap 2.0s displace the Comengs, although a post Metro Tunnel video video would be useful, even if it lasted only a year.

Can you do a similar video but for Melbournes Tram Network! Great Video as always

next x'tramp refurb should add air suspension if possible also they really ought to do some maintainence on the rail lines between Laburnum and Blackburn, as well as between Heatherdale and Ringwood

Speaking as someone with severe anxiety- Why does no one ever mention how all the seats on the XTraps face each other and it being super uncomfortable to sit across from noisy strangers? One of the best things about HCMTs is that the seats mostly face one way and theyre higher so there's slightly more privacy.

The rough ride of the xtraps are so real. One time i got up to get off at southern cross immediately after i fell over bad lol

Totally agree the window seats on the Comeng trains are the best.

it makes my weeks when you upload taitset, absolutely love your work ♥︎♥︎

I really do miss back when the Comeng trains were the main ones on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines

One thing that REALLY annoys me about the hcmts is the door opening buttons are those touch sensitive ones and not actual buttons and it feels unnatural and weird for it not to press in.

Love the content as a fellow Melbournian~! I was fortunate enough to see much of the HCMT Testing on non standard lines! usually running through platforms 1-2 at richmond down the Sandringham line~

I like the bad suspension on xtrapolis trains, it's like a rollercoaster sometimes which can be fun. Also I remember somewhere near rushall station last year the train would shake sideways a lot every time on that specific part of the track which was fun.

7:18-7:27 right on brother 👍 though I'd also throw on some Siemens trains onto the lines that they don't run on.

Interesting video, great commentary - everything else has been mentioned several times. BRAVO & LIKE

The cutting apart of the map had me lolling. The sticking it backwith tape had me rofling

I’ve always wondered this especially the Eastern side of Melbourne. Why they get all those trains where you can literally can walk through it without going outside which some people used to have a smoke in between the other trains like on South East side.

Wow this is so cool always wondered why? Thank you so much and I appreciate your channel 😊

Epping line and whenever I go onto a different line it does feel wierd! They might old but I think they're fairly comfy? The layout's good. Interesting though! I half remember that time when the trains where split up, but funny to think about.

Now THIS was the video I was looking for. Every time I find a video on Melbourne trains it sadly reminds me just how few games there are about them that I can find here in the US :(

i am sometimes purposely late to some events in the city cuz when i reach frankston station, if there are x'trampolines, i miss that train so i am 10 minutes late. i love when i stay with my grandma as she is on the sandy line and there are no xtraps (woohoo!!) i feel bad for you on xtraps...

Always, the best, most informative and interesting VLOG's when it comes to Melbourne and regional Victoria's railways........thank you mate.

6:02 i’m not sure if you know, but the original x’trapolis sets which were manufactured in 2002-2004 didn’t have those handrails because they weren’t included in the original design, but in 2007 or around that when the government ordered the second batch of x’trapolis, they added that handrail for more standing capacity. This decision was probably a no brainer and perhaps they didn’t even consider how it might’ve blocked the view of the PID.

The Nexas is so slept on. By far the most comfortable and stylish, I miss it now that it’s left the pakenham line

Used to ride on Comenges before the line got their HCMTs. Comenges were too loud due to sound coming through visual cracks in the door seals.

thanks mate for the video. good to see a Aussie on YT

Ah yes, the Xtrapolis bucking bronco ride through the Dennis-Fairfield straight. Originally living in Sydney I miss the sounds of their older chopper sets so understand your fondness for the Comeng whine.

Wow. This video is soo good. Man, took KZfaq a while to tell me about you, glad it finally did.

Really good explanation. I'm curious to know more about the Siemens trains. They barely got a mention in this video. They've always "seemed" more modern to me despite actually being older than many xtraps. They're quiet, spacious and comfortable (to me) but elusive. I can only imagine what a modern version of that would be like.

ive once been airborne from my seat on a trip between union and boxhill in an xtrap

Thanks for making me feel so much better about the comeng on craigieburn line 😊I always thought we were just hard done by because Melbourne is prejudiced against the north and west 😂 but you’re right I enjoy riding in them and even have my favourite seat

The Comeng accelerating is the sound of MEL

The X-traps are actually Alstom’s Metro Polis trains with them still producing newer generations of that train model! :)